10 Actors That Were So Bad They Had To Quit TV Shows

Australian Cinephile

It takes a good actor to act like they're not acting.

Transcript

00:00Although they might not always want to admit it, there are more actors out there than you think

00:04who have left shows because of talent problems. Their own talent being the problem in that they

00:09don't have enough of it. A little harsh, yes, but here we are. We're allowed to dunk on these people

00:14because truthfully, even if they're absolutely terrible at what they do, they're richer than

00:17most of us will ever be. So it's only fair. So I'm Amy from WhatCulture and here are eight actors

00:22that were so bad they had to quit TV shows. 8. Misha Barton, The O.C. There are a number of

00:29rumours as to why this member of The O.C. left. The star herself of course puts it down to the

00:33usual creative differences gimmick, but there are plenty of rumours that say otherwise. She said

00:38in a public statement that it would be best for her health if she left the show because producers

00:42were overworking her, departing with a frosty on-set goodbye to a group of co-stars who also

00:47couldn't stand her. Maintaining the role would have been really great for her career, and so people

00:51were really confused when she chose to exit, her character being killed in a car crash. When asked

00:56about it, show creator Josh Schwartz puts the exit down to a clash of interests, creativity,

01:02and ratings, which is sort of a polite way of saying he wasn't interested in furthering her

01:06career, creatively he thought he could do better with the show, and that the ratings were showing

01:10that the audience really weren't enjoying it. Bad ratings can't all be blamed on Barton, but rumours

01:15suggest that the main cause of issues between her and Schwartz was her acting ability and general

01:19professional conduct. 7. Luke Grimes, In True Blood. It is worth starting this one by saying that

01:25it sort of hinges on an anonymous tip from a source close to the show and the actor, so nothing has

01:30ever been 100% confirmed. If true though, and people do tend to believe it is, it's pretty embarrassing

01:36for Luke. Between seasons 6 and 7, Grimes departed from the show and was replaced with another actor,

01:41stating that he wasn't happy with the creative direction of the character. Thanks to a source

01:45verified by BuzzFeed and HBO, we can decode this to reach the real meaning. Grimes didn't want to play

01:51a gay character. In this day and age, even though, yes, this was a few years ago now, you really have

01:56to be better than that. Had he had moral issues like that he didn't want to take the role from an

02:01openly gay actor, then he would have said so himself, so the implication is that his departure is that he

02:05found it insulting or degrading to have to play a character of a different sexual orientation.

02:10If this is the case, then it's absolutely for the best that he left, as he clearly wasn't

02:14professional or talented enough for the role.

02:16Cast initially as Captain Janeway, it didn't take Genevieve long at all to decide that this

02:24new role wasn't for her, leaving after only two days of filming. As with most dramatic quitting

02:29stories, there are multiple sides to it, and of course Genevieve's own motivations for leaving

02:34will have been far from two-dimensional. There's the side of the story that tells of her disappointment

02:38with the character and the crew, feeling she was not given the chance to shine that she was

02:41promised. She had to be a woman first and a captain second, which is the reverse of what

02:46she wanted, and when you pair that disappointing realisation with the long days and unfriendly

02:50co-workers, it's no shock that she wanted out.

02:53The other side to this is slightly less flattering for her though, in which producer Rick Bergman

02:58insists that she left because she just couldn't live up to what was expected of her. He accused

03:02her of being a diva on set, of being difficult to work with and not having the ability that

03:06others did to stomach the long days on set. Seemingly, she was a film actress first and she just

03:11didn't have the constitution to meet a TV schedule. Whichever one is the truth, at least they

03:15got it out of the way early so a replacement could come in and things could keep running

03:19smoothly.

03:205. Jake T. Austin in The Fosters

03:22Known for being a child actor on Wizards of Waverly Place alongside Selena Gomez and

03:26David Henry, many agree that this actor should have said goodbye to acting when he hit puberty.

03:31Nonetheless, Jake T. Austin has a soft spot in a lot of people's hearts because they feel

03:35as though they've watched him grow up on the telly. But that does not mean that we should

03:38ignore the fact that his acting hasn't aged very well with him. Whilst featuring on The Fosters

03:43as Jesus Adams Foster, the actor helped make it quite obvious why his acting career hadn't

03:47really taken off since featuring on the Disney Channel show. Austin soon threw in the towel

03:51and announced in 2013 that he'd be leaving the show. And in season 3, Jesus gets into

03:56a nasty car crash and everyone thinks he's dead just for him to return in the next season

04:00with a different actor. Noah Centineo steps in to save the day and hence the new Jesus is

04:04born.

04:054. Taylor Momsen, Gossip Girl

04:08According to a statement made by the Taylor Momsen team, Taylor left to pursue her music

04:12career. Whilst other members of the cast found their breakthrough roles on the show, Momsen

04:16came to the realisation that maybe acting wasn't for her. She landed the role of Jenny Humphrey

04:20when she was 14 off the back of her role in The Grinch Stole Christmas. And unfortunately,

04:24this meant that viewers had to suffer through four seasons of her acting. Bad acting wasn't

04:28the only reason that this young actress left the show. Although her acting may have been lacking,

04:32her looks were enough to get her signed to a modelling agency and have her noticed by

04:36Madonna. Soon, her musical career was taking off so it was one or the other for this budding

04:39star and the decision was pretty clear.

04:42After filming an episode with the guest star Tim Gunn, the actor went off on one and said

04:46some horrible things about the young actress and her talent, or lack thereof. Her beef with

04:50co-star Gunn was enough and the young musician said goodbye to her schoolblazer and tie.

04:553. David the Messier exits on the list and also stuck around the longest on his show. Cast

05:00as the leading man in the hit cop series NYPD Blue, David Caruso had the perfect CV and

05:05reputation to bag him the role of John Kelly. It wasn't long after filming commenced that

05:10the casting director realised what a mistake had been made. The actor was apparently extremely

05:15volatile and emotionally unavailable to fellow cast and crew members, and treated everyone

05:19as if they were his stepping stones for success. This attitude obviously got him nowhere, and

05:23his bad acting and lack of empathy soon found him leaving the show to pursue his big acting

05:28career. It sounds as though everyone was probably quite relieved to see the back of this actor,

05:32and thanks to his terrible personality it feels okay to say that his performances felt so forced

05:37and robotic that we're surprised he ever got the role in the first place.

05:402. Larry David on Seinfeld It's fair to say that Larry David wasn't

05:45one of the most central, well-known faces in Seinfeld. In fact, he only appeared a few times

05:49on screen. However, stick with me here. He literally quit the show in both his showrunner

05:54capacity and that of a casual actor because he felt he wasn't good enough to deliver what

05:59the show deserved. Actually having someone come out and say that they left because they

06:02didn't think they were up to par is very unusual. It's usually creative differences or scheduling

06:07problems, you know, these inconspicuous excuses covering the truth. So you've sort of got to

06:12respect David for being so straightforward about it, even a few years later. He respected the

06:16show and its cast so much that he wanted to do what was best for it, at the same time as

06:20acknowledging that he needed a break from the pressure and stress the show put on him.

06:24He wasn't a terrible actor or showrunner by any means. He in fact gave the show some

06:28of its best bits. However, he felt that he could no longer do enough to make his presence

06:32worth it and stepped down.

06:341. Charlie Sheen Two and a half men

06:38Is it a conspiracy theory to say that Charlie Sheen wanted to get fired? Or is it totally reasonable,

06:43given that at the time he was an absolute madman that none of us could even begin to wrap

06:47our heads around understanding? So yes, technically he was fired and didn't quit, but bear in mind

06:53that he was fired after going on an unforgivable tirade against the showrunner, Chuck Lorre,

06:58after a long build up of unhinged interview appearances. Many have made the point that

07:02there's no way he wasn't actively trying to get himself fired, or at least see how far he

07:07could push things, and he has certainly not denied this idea ever since. At the time when he was let go,

07:12he was in a very bad way and performing horribly on the show. He was hostile and rude to co-workers and

07:17co-stars, he was actively damaging the show's reputation through interviews and public stunts.

07:22There's pushing your luck, and then there's this. He has said since that at the time he thought he

07:27could just come back from everything without a problem. He thought he could push and push until

07:31he lost his show, his credibility and everything else, and then just get it all back when he was

07:35done being in whatever silly, goofy mood he was in. Needless to say, that wasn't the case. If you commit

07:40the TV career equivalent of suicide by cop, don't assume that cop's going to rehire you anytime soon.

07:46And with that, we've reached the end of this list of 8 actors that were so bad they had to quit TV

07:51shows. It's harder than you think to find people who'll admit to this, so if you've got any more,

07:55I would actually love to know about them. Stick them in the comments down below. And remember to

07:59check out whatculture.com for more lists and articles like this every single day. As always,

08:03I've been Amy from WhatCulture and I'll catch you next time.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended